No notice of COBRA or health benefits ending

[caldwal]

What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state? Tennessee

Not sure if this falls under Health Insurance or Labor law, but here goes. I resigned from my job with the Federal government (VA) in July of 2004. At the time, I was not notified in any way (written or verbal) of when my health insurance would terminate or of any COBRA rights. I continued to use my policy and even received regular updates, mailings, and re-enrollment notifications (at the end of the year). This month I received a letter from the plan saying I was going to be dis-enrolled because I was not shown as an active participant. I called my former employer and was told that my coverage should have ended 31 days after my last day of employment. They acknowledged that they had made a mistake "Administrative error. SF2810 never processed. In accordance with Public Law 100-654." I am now being given the option to enroll in the plans COBRA plan at over $700.00 per month for myself and my spouse retroactive to August of 2004. The bad thing is if I had known I was losing my coverage, I could have enrolled in my spouse’s plan. Is the employer guilty of breaking any laws or violating any of my rights? Do I have any recourse? Thanks!

[caldwal]

Thanks for your help!

[cbg]

It might not be a bad idea to run your question past the US DOL (they are the regulatory agency responsible for COBRA) and see whether or not they think this would be worth pursuing. It's not impossible that they might take up the cause on your behalf. In any case, it's worth the phone call. The worst they can say is no.

[rlbunny]

If there is any way you can avoid cobra, I would do it. They are heartless, do not admit any errors on their part & are only interested in one thing...YOUR MONEY. And it's usually 2 to 3 times what your previous insurance was. Their representives will give you conflicting information & then ask if you recorded the conversation to prove your statments. Try everything else first choosing Cobra as a last resort.
And good luck, your gonna need it

[cbg]

What the heck are you talking about?

First of all, COBRA is a continuation of whatever policy the individual is already on. It is not a separate product.

Secondly, COBRA is administered either by the employer or by an outside administrator hired by the employer. There is no "they" that applies to all COBRA users across the board.

Third, no one is denying that COBRA is expensive. It is also true that it will probably be several times what the individual is used to paying. However, that is become the individual has only been paying a small fraction of the actual cost of the insurance, with the balance being paid by the employer. Federal law strictly regulates how much an employee can be charged, and an employee who feels they are being overcharged for their COBRA can complain to the Federal authorities - the DOL, in fact.

[cbg]

Of course, you could always go for a cheaper individual plan with a higher deductible assuming you have no pre-existing conditions. It will likely save you a large amout of money.

While I agree with this in theory, in practice it is unlikely to occur. I recently came to the end of 18 months of COBRA and couldn't find any individual policy for less than I had been paying, let alone comparable coverage. I'm now covered under an indemnity plan that isn't much more than catastrophic and paying only $150 less than I'd been paying for gold crown PPO coverage PLUS dental on COBRA.

[cbg]

Oh, no question, cheap coverage is better than no coverage. No question about that.

I just wanted to make sure the OP understood that individual policies do not generally run cheaper than COBRA - group plans almost invariably are cheaper because they have so much broader a base.